Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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Biblically speaking, you cannot come to Christ through logic. You come to Christ through surrender.

Who is more likely to admit he can't do it on his own?

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you can't answer the question "can i do it on my own?" without employing logical reasoning.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Atheism
 

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Who is more likely to admit he can't do it on his own?

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people that cant do it on their own

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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If you believe God's existence is in the domain of rational metaphysics, then atheism is a strong favorite to be the best rational interpretation of reality. Not even close.

But, again, most religions consider God's existence to be in the realm of faith, not reason, so ZJ's argument is irrelevant to a true believer anyways.

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Unfortunately, this makes ZJ's argument circular and mostly irrelevant to everyone - believer and atheist alike.

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I was thinking the same thing when I read snowman's point. Very unfortunate indeed when logic and reason are made irrelevant.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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I was thinking the same thing when I read snowman's point. Very unfortunate indeed when logic and reason are made irrelevant.

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Still, if the believers don't really have God telling them to believe, then their position won't hold out forever against the onslaught of sensible thinking. It could take many generations, but eventually religion (as we know it) will fade away.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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snowman -

ZJ's argument depends on belief trends, not on specific believers. So when you say...

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The bottom line is there are very intellignet atheists, and very intelligent theists.

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...you're completely missing the point. The bottom line is that, among very intelligent people, atheists are wildly over-represented.

If you don't believe God's existence is a subject amenable to rational inquiry, obviously you don't believe this trend means anything...except maybe that God hates smart people.

But if you believe there is a rationally "best" response to the proposition "God exists", then this trend constitutes a strong argument that belief in God is irrational.

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I think a more apt description would be 'currently irrational'. We shouldn't reject what we can't know based on what a proposed 'elite' of thinkers holds as a majority view.

If we did this we would risk blocking developments in knowledge. You have some bad examples of this in science. Phlogiston theory is my favourite.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

Surely the 'right' group is the one that has the most adaptive and or happy beliefs.

You wana do correlatory scores on fat lonely boffins V collectivist societys for happiness?

LMAO.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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The difference is, if Im wrong I dont lose anything.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Atheism
 

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Can anyone give a single example of a case in the course of all of human history where there was a high correlation between intelligence and a belief when the belief was wrong? Specifically, I mean a belief not held by everyone where there were 2 or more possible sets of belief, where the correct one was held by a group of lesser average intelligence.

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Whenever science was wrong the less intelligent group was right. The idea of Ether was probably believed only by scientists who most likely were more intelligent than the rest.
Similarly sometimes the weaker chess player (the less intelligent) beats the stronger one which means that he was right when analizing a number of key positions. (He possibly didn't even think of something that was misevaluated by his opponent)
This are only exceptions though and I agree with your original proposition.

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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Whenever science was wrong the less intelligent group was right. The idea of Ether was probably believed only by scientists who most likely were more intelligent than the rest.

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Hmmmmm. I'm surprised the coalminer even knew about light waves never mind he had a correct explanation for them. Was it the quantum one or ??

luckyme

Re: Atheism Intelligence Correlations - The Strongest Argument for Ath
 

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Whenever science was wrong the less intelligent group was right. The idea of Ether was probably believed only by scientists who most likely were more intelligent than the rest.

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Hmmmmm. I'm surprised the coalminer even knew about light..

luckyme

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Hmm, I didn't know they couldn't come out.